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STUDY IS FIRST TO EXPLORE LINKS BETWEEN U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY, IMMIGRATION STATUS
06 October 2004 - Boston University
| In a first-of-its-kind study to examine the relationship between immigration-related abuse and domestic violence, researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health have concluded that current U.S. immigration policies preventing women on spousal visas from working and self-petitioning for change of status increase women’s vulnerability to partner abuse and may constitute human rights violations. |
The study, "Immigration Policies Increase South Asian Immigrant Women’s Vulnerability to Intimate Partner Violence," determines that immigration-related abuse in the forms of threats of deportation, refusal to file for change of visa status, and withholding of immigration paperwork is part of an overall campaign by batterers to exert extraordinary personal and economic control over their partners. Further, the study suggests that threats and refusal to file for change of status were significantly related to physical abuse, sexual abuse, and injury resulting from male partner-perpetrated violence against South Asian immigrant women. Researchers surveyed 189 married immigrant South Asian women living in the Boston-area, gathering information about demographics, immigration status, and health. The study focused on people from India, the largest South Asian group in the United States, comprising nearly 50 percent of those receiving H-1B work visas. Spouses of H-1B visa holders are given H-4B visas, which legally permit them to be in this country but prohibit them from obtaining paid employment or getting a social security card, which prevents them from opening a bank account or obtaining a driver’s license. “Immigration policies, specifically those attached to the H-4B (spousal) visa, are increasing vulnerability to partner violence among these visa holders, a disproportionately female group. H-4B visa holders are legal residents of the U.S. who are being denied the right to work and the right to self-petition for legal permanent residency in the U.S. These policies violate basic human rights and must be changed for the U.S. to demonstrate a commitment to eliminating policies that increase women's risk for violence,” said study author Anita Raj, PhD, B.U. School of Public Health. Overall, the study’s authors suggest that these findings clearly demonstrate the need to expand the definitions of domestic violence to include immigration-related abuse and that immigration policies be reformed to protect immigrant battered women and their children.
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Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG). We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines. Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government. To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances. This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation. |
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